


It's Only a Quarter of a Century

by Zetal (Rodinia)



Series: Soulmate Dreams [24]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Coach/Skater Relationship, M/M, Phichit is a little shit, Soulbond Testing, Soulmate AU, Spoiler Alert: It's Not Fun, There's A Reason Most Soulmates Don't Bother, age gap
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-15
Updated: 2017-05-15
Packaged: 2018-11-01 04:25:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10914297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rodinia/pseuds/Zetal
Summary: What do you do when your soulmate is twenty-five years younger than you?Until Phichit turns eighteen, Celestino's strategy of forgetting he even has a soulmate works well.  Afterward, well... it's a very strange situation.





	It's Only a Quarter of a Century

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Phayte](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phayte/gifts), [Francowitch](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Francowitch/gifts).



> Gifted to Phayte because this pairing is ALL HER FAULT, and to Francowitch for requesting it.

Celestino looked around his dream. He had no idea where he was. Thanks to skating, he’d seen a fair bit of the world, but the architecture here was unfamiliar. It was hot, probably tropical, and he was in a city, and there was no one else around.

That upset him. He was supposed to be meeting his soulmate. If no one showed up… that meant he didn’t have one.

His parents didn’t take the news very well, but his coach was thrilled. No soulmate meant no distractions from skating. Celestino became one of the best in the world, and for seven years, he dominated the sport.

Then one April, he had a strange dream. He was back in the dream from his 18th birthday, and there was a shadowy figure standing down the street from him. Celestino went to investigate, and when the figure turned around, he saw the baby in their arms. The figure held the baby out to him. “Phichit Chulanont.” As soon as Celestino took the baby, the figure blew away like smoke, leaving him alone with… Phichit. He guessed. He did some quick addition. “Hey, kid. Hope you’re not too pissed off when you have your soulmate dream and you’ve got some forty-three year old guy. Or when we meet and you find out that I didn’t exactly sit around waiting for you. I mean, you can’t be mad at me for anything I’ve done up till now, but I’m not going looking for you, so it’ll be a long time.”

Thankfully, souls didn’t have to eat or sleep or especially poop. The idea of having to change his soulmate’s diaper was just… too awkward to contemplate. Although it would give him an excuse to find out if his soulmate was a boy or a girl.

At practice the next day, he struggled to focus, and eventually his coach called him over. “What’s wrong?”

“I met my soulmate last night. It was…” Celestino trailed off. He didn't know how to start to explain.

“You don’t have a soulmate. You didn’t dream of anyone.”

“I didn’t meet them when I was eighteen, because they hadn’t been born yet. Apparently they were born yesterday. Or today. Or something. I don’t know. Anyway, literally, my soulmate is currently a newborn baby.” Saying it out loud didn't make it seem any more real than anything else had.

Coach groaned. “Don’t tell me you’re going to go looking.”

“Ew. No. I don’t really have anything to go on anyway, I’m not even really sure I know the name. I don’t have a clue how to spell it, so I can’t even go look it up and see country of origin or gender. Once I shake the weirdness I’ll be back to normal. They can come to me when they're older, if they have any interest in some middle-aged guy.”

 

It happened to everyone, and it was only a few years after discovering his soulmate that Celestino just didn’t have it in him to compete anymore. After retiring, he took a year off to consider his future. It didn’t surprise anyone when he came right back to the ice, this time as a coach. He was good at it, too. Before long, other coaches were sending him recommendations, and he found himself in the position of choosing his skaters instead of hoping skaters would choose him.

It didn’t strike him as odd when one of his skaters sent him footage of another skater with a message. “Katsuki’s pal. Thought u might be interested.” The kid looked a little younger than he usually worked with, but the talent was there – and there was something about him that had Celestino smiling the whole time he watched. He got some more information from Paul – Thai skater, Phichit Chulanont, turning twelve at the end of the month. Something about that set off a niggling feeling in his brain, but he couldn’t place it, so he decided to ignore it.

For the next three years, he watched Phichit grow and compete in Juniors. After World’s that year, he found contact information for Phichit’s current coach. He’d done his research – Phichit’s coach was focused on younger skaters, and he’d soon be looking for a new coach. Fifteen wasn’t unreasonable to leave home, not in the skating world, not if you could establish that the coach looked out for his skaters. Celestino was quite confident in his track record – after all, most of his skaters were foreign, and had come to him between the ages of fourteen and eighteen. Phichit’s family agreed, and soon, Phichit was in Detroit.

Three years later, after Worlds, Phichit approached him. “Would it be okay if I went home for a couple weeks next month? I’d kinda like to be with my family for my eighteenth birthday.”

“Sure. That’s… wait.” Celestino looked up from his phone, as his eyes flew wide open. “April 30th, you turn eighteen?”

“Yep!" Phichit tilted his head, smile dimming just a bit. "What’s wrong, Coach? I’m not gonna get stupid just because I can legally go to clubs and stuff, and I’m not quitting skating just because I discover my soulmate. That’s dumb.”

“I’m… I wasn’t worried about that, no.” He had, on the other hand, just remembered why Phichit’s name and birthdate had always set off that feeling like he was forgetting something. It was because he had forgotten something. “Let me know once you’ve made your arrangements.”

 

The month between Worlds and leaving for vacation had been very awkward. During practice, nothing had changed. Coach worked him as hard as always, watched for flaws to correct as closely as ever. Outside of practice, though, Celestino would barely talk to Phichit, and Phichit was starting to get very confused. Was Ciao Ciao mad at him for wanting to take a vacation? He had to know that Phichit would contact him as soon as possible to let him know if there were going to be any complications with his soulmate.

Celestino drove him to the airport on the 26th. “You’ve got everything you need?”

“If I don’t, it’s a little late to turn around now.” Phichit winked. “I have my phone, my skates, and my papers. Other than that, I can replace anything when I get there.”

“Text me when you get there. Have fun. Talk to you on your birthday.”

“Thanks, _Dad_.” Phichit leaned across the front seat to give Celestino a quick hug, which the older man didn’t return. “Try not to miss me too much, huh? And remind Danny to take good care of my hamsters!”

Celestino smiled and nodded, and Phichit got out of the car. He shoved Celestino’s weird behavior out of his mind on the flight over, and by the time he touched down in Thailand, he was ready to have some fun. Yuuri and Viktor were taking their vacation at the same time, and had agreed to meet up in Thailand.

His parents threw a giant celebration on the 29th, and sent Phichit to bed with lots of wishes for wealth, beauty, kindness, and other qualities his friends and family members found desirable in a soulmate. In the morning, Phichit slipped out of bed as quietly as he could. He did not want to have to answer questions, not yet. He had almost made it out the front door when he was caught by Yuuri. “Phichit? Where are you going?”

Phichit turned away from the door. “Into the city. I’ll tell you about it when I get back. Just… don’t ask me anything yet. Okay?”

“Okay.” Phichit hated doing this to Yuuri of all people. Yuuri was his best friend, and would almost certainly take this as Phichit not trusting him, thanks to his anxiety. He just couldn’t talk to anyone.

He found Celestino exactly where he said he’d be, on a park bench near the river. Celestino held out a coffee cup to Phichit. “You were right. The coffee’s great.”

“Of course I was right. And now I understand why you texted me yesterday to ask where to get good coffee in Bangkok.” Phichit accepted the cup and took a sip. “How long have you known?” Had Celestino recruited him because of this? Phichit didn't want to believe that, but he couldn't ignore the possibility.

“Technically? I found out eighteen years ago today.”

“Oh, that must have been a fun dream.” Phichit tried to imagine dreaming of a baby. He couldn't do it. He was much happier with the end of the deal he'd gotten.

“Yeah. You can understand why I didn’t try to find you right away. I shoved it out of my mind to focus on my skating, and then my coaching, and eventually I just… forgot. When I was first scouting you, your name seemed familiar, but it wasn’t until Worlds when you asked to go home for this that I realized why.”

Which was why Celestino had been so weird since then. It made sense now. “What do we do now? I can’t imagine the ISU is going to be very happy with this.”

“I talked to a representative, at Worlds. If we decide we want to continue our professional relationship as well as have a personal one, they’ll want proof. Something to reassure parents and the general public that this is not normal and we are an exception under the scrutiny of the officials.” Celestino chuckled. “She was actually more pissed about it being you than the situation itself.”

Phichit blinked. “Why's it so bad that it's me?”

“Because there is no way the king of social media keeps a low profile. If this happened to, say, Seung Gil and Minso? They could probably keep it quiet.”

“Yeah, okay, that’s fair,” Phichit had to admit. They fell silent for a moment, sipping their coffees. A thought occurred to Phichit and he burst into laughter. Off Celestino’s curious look, he explained, “Remember when Ketty had that crush on me, and how you encouraged me to go for it, because not everyone’s Viktor or Leo and most people accept that people date and experiment before they find out who their soulmates are? I assume you were right that my soulmate probably wouldn’t mind.”

Celestino cracked up. “Well it’s not like I was sitting around waiting for you either! Not so much recently, but I did a lot of stuff when I was younger.”

“Okay." The memory had broken the tension, Phichit had some coffee starting to kick in, so it was time to actually deal. "Professional relationship is easy so let’s get that out of the way first. You’re a great coach, we work well together, I want to keep skating for you.”

“Good, because I hate the thought of handing you over to another coach. I want to help you make your dreams come true.” Celestino finished his coffee and set the cup beside him on the bench between them. “So… personal. I know when I was eighteen, I’d have been horrified to discover that my soulmate was older than my parents. I don’t think I’d have even gone looking for him. Would you have looked for me if you didn’t already know me?”

He didn't even have to think. “Hell yeah. You’re hot, I’d never have to worry about money, you understand the life of a competitive skater, and you’re good in bed.”

Phichit smirked as Celestino choked. “What was that last one?”

“Come on, Ciao Ciao. It’s not like you needed to introduce yourself or give me an extensive list of ways to find you. Out here, life might get in the way and make it not worth it to go there, but in the dream? Especially knowing it might be the only chance? Damn straight I went there.”

“Huh.” This was a first. Phichit couldn't remember ever seeing his coach speechless before.

So, naturally, Phichit decided to make it weirder. “Have to say, I feel a lot less bad now about thinking about you while I was jerking off, before.”

“You… what?”

Phichit grinned at the utter shock on Celestino's face. “I know, inappropriate, but it worked for me. Figured eventually we’d get here, I’d find out who my soulmate is, and switch… but fate’s got one hell of a sense of humor.”

“So you don’t care that I’m old enough to be your father.”

“Nope. Of course, if you find it too weird that I’m young enough to be your son, that’s fair.”

“I’ve had a lot of time to get used to the idea. I’m getting a pretty good deal here. It’s sure gonna make college parties awkward for you, though.”

“Maybe, but I don’t mind.” Phichit turned toward Celestino, pulling his legs up on the bench and folding his arms over his knees. “I like this. I never thought my attraction to you would go anywhere and under normal circumstances doing anything about it would be completely inappropriate, so I didn’t spend a lot of time thinking about it, but I love the idea of being yours. If you don’t like the idea, or you can’t get over my age or the professional relationship, I understand. If you do, and you can… there’s a testing center a mile from here, to satisfy the officials. Then I go apologize to Yuuri and explain why I wouldn’t say anything this morning.”

“Why wouldn’t you?”

“Because! If we end up deciding to ignore it, you’re my coach and my friend and that’s it, then I don’t see why anyone has to know we’re soulmates. No one drags you through the mud for scouting and recruiting me, we don’t have to deal with questions about why we’re ignoring it or if we plan to change things when I retire, you know I’m good at keeping my stories straight and my lies consistent. I’ll just tell people I don’t have a soulmate. Other than that ISU official, have you told anyone?”

“Not your name or anything that would identify who my baby soulmate grew up to be. She’ll be perfectly happy to keep it to herself, too, so it’ll just be the three of us in on the secret.”

“Is that what you want, then?” Phichit rested his chin on his arms, waiting for the rejection. He was already starting to plan what to tell Yuuri about why he ran off the way he did.

He’d gotten pretty deep, while Celestino took his time to think about it. “No,” Celestino finally decided. “It’s going to be awkward. We’re in for some rough times with the ISU, the media, your family and friends, _my_ family and friends… but you’re worth it.”

 

There was a reason most people set up their own passphrase-based tests or something similar instead of everyone going to the testing centers. The testing center folks were at least non-judgmental when Phichit and Celestino came in together. They took a seat in very comfortable-looking chairs that were placed back to back. The technicians strapped them down and started inserting the needles.

Once everything was in place, the technicians guided Phichit and Celestino to clasp their hands. The head technician threw a switch, and both men screamed as the needles burrowed into their souls. It only lasted fifteen seconds, but it felt like forever.

Phichit stared at his hand in wonder as the technicians worked on freeing him from the torture chair. Intricate patterns glowed red and gold across his skin. Once free, they led him to a table where a special film was rolled out to take a picture of the markings. The technicians recorded the pictures and made comparisons. Phichit took Celestino’s hand and held his next to it. The designs mirrored each other perfectly.

“Here you are, gentlemen.” The head technician handed Celestino and Phichit each a copy of the report certifying that they were, indeed, soulmates. “The markings should fade in two to three days. If you can still see them after a week, come back to a testing center for evaluation. I know it’s probably tempting, but don’t go get those tattooed just yet. You have the scans if you want to do it later, but you need to be able to see if the marks don’t fade.”

 

Back at the house, Phichit squeezed Celestino’s hand. “You sure you wanna do this?”

“May as well. It’s gonna be awkward no matter what. Let’s get it over with.”

Yuuri was the first person they ran into. “Hey. Yuuri. Sorry about this morning. I wasn’t ready to talk to anyone, not until I’d talked to my soulmate, because… well.” Phichit laced his fingers with Celestino’s.

Yuuri looked at their joined, marked hands. “Um… congratulations?”

“Thank you! Where is everyone? Mom and Dad are gonna flip.”

Yuuri went and got Phichit’s parents, who were not happy, but who accepted it. Hard to deny with the marks still glowing. Once the talking was over, Phichit took Celestino to his room. “That wasn’t too bad.”

“You might change your mind when you’re in my shoes. Meeting my family.”

“Probably. Still think I’m worth it?”

“Ask me after we’ve officially notified the ISU.”

“Well, until then, come here.” Phichit reached up and freed Celestino’s hair from its ponytail. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen your hair free.”

“Only time you would have is if you did in your dream. First thing I do in the morning is tie it back.”

“Probably a good thing. I love it. Don’t want to share.” Phichit looked up at Celestino. “Okay, this height thing may be a problem. Freaking mutant.”

“There are advantages.” Celestino bent down to kiss Phichit. “More on that later.”

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't ship it when I started writing. I do now. Send help, my fleet is already getting unwieldy with all the ships in it.


End file.
